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Oh, for Pete’s sake! February 26 is actually a “holiday” called For Pete’s Sake Day – celebrating those handy-dandy euphemisms like “crickets” & “jeepers” that make The Happy Hollisters so charming! To celebrate, we’ve created a glossary of “Happy Hollisterisms” – over 50 nifty old-fashioned terms and expressions along with their meanings.

Impress your friends with these dandy “new” words, bits of classic 1950s lingo and regional expressions that you may not have heard in a long time . . . if ever! These words and phrases were really swell in the 1950s and ‘60s; you can wow your parents, grandparents, maybe even your great-grandparents, by making their old slang new again! (Page numbers in parentheses refer to the The Happy Hollisters (volume 1) paperback edition, unless noted otherwise.) Words preceded by ► are additions to the list as of February 2014.

►Aquaplaning (page 117, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Can you picture that imp, Ricky Hollister, attaching an ironing board to the back of a speed boat, just for kicks? An article about the history of waterskiing and wakeboarding by Lawrence P. Gooley included this description of aquaplaning, and it sounds like it was written with Ricky in mind: “. . . participants attempted to ride a toboggan or an ironing-board-shaped plank, usually about five feet long and two feet wide, towed behind a boat. The boards often resembled the average house door.” Enjoy the whole article at: http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2012/07/history-before-water-skiing-there-was-aquaplaning.html#sthash.Jqskhiti.dpuf

►Beach buggy (page 76, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Scowbanger, a friend of the Happy Hollisters, has an old automobile (that’s another word for car, kids!) whose fenders and roof had been removed, and it had enormous balloon tires. Historically, cars and boats often get girl names, and Scowbanger’s beach buggy is called Jenny Jump because she can leap over sandy gullies like a frog! A beach buggy is sometimes called a dune buggy

Bossy (page 146) When Farmer Hill offers Pete and Pam a glass of warm milk that he “just got from Bossy,” he doesn’t mean he got it from his overbearing wife. “Bossy” was a generic cow nickname back in the day when owning livestock was more common, just like “Fido” is sometimes used for dogs today. Cats were called “Tabby,” and “Dobbin” was a horse. And in case you’re wondering, Farmer Hill wasn’t offering to heat that milk up in the microwave – it was already warm because it came straight out of Bossy. Yum!

►Calling long-distance (page 100, Volume 2, River Trip) “Holly, hopeful at once, jumped up and down and clapped as Uncle Russ took the telephone and called long-distance.” If you remember when making a long-distance call was a BIG DEAL, you might be of a certain age! Here’s a “simple” explanation of how long-distance calling works, thanks to the folks at How Stuff Works: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question354.htm

Calliope (page 84) Old-fashioned merry-go-rounds didn’t use recorded music like they do today. Instead, the music came from a band organ or calliope, a musical instrument with a keyboard that controlled about 30 steam whistles. A calliope has a very distinctive (and loud) sound, most commonly associated with circus music. The word means “beautiful voice” and can be pronounced kə-LYE-ə-pee or KAL-ee-ohp. Here is a website with some nice sample music, if you’d like to hear what a calliope sounds like: http://music.carouselstores.com/

Cellar (page 28) You’d think the Hollisters, living in quaint, suburban Shoreham, would have had a finished basement with carpeting, swag lights and a pool table, but Pete says they have a cellar, and he knows best. But a cellar is typically an underground storage area with dirt walls used to store fruit and vegetables, and it isn’t always directly beneath a house. The cellar is where Dorothy was headed in The Wizard of Oz, when she’s trying to pull open those big, heavy doors in the ground to escape the cyclone.

Crickets (page 61) Pete uses this as an exclamation of distressed surprise. Everyone thinks Pete is such a polite, clean-cut kid, but it turns out “crickets!” is actually pretty darn close to swearing! (Say it ain’t so, Pete!) “Crickets!” may be a shortened and cleaned-up form of “Jiminy Crickets!” a minced oath or euphemism for a two-word curse with the same initial letters letters. Jerry West was clearly up on his contemporary pop culture: the character “Jiminy Cricket” is familiar from Disney’s Pinocchio, and the phrase is also used by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, when she is startled by the thunder and lightning inside the wizard’s chamber. It also was used in the 1930 film, Anna Christie, starring Greta Garbo. Her character’s Swedish father (see where I’m going with this?) uses the same exclamation several times. Maybe Jerry West, aka Andrew Svenson, heard the expression from his Swedish father, Sven Andrew Svenson, or from his even more Swedish grandfather, Carl Edward Svenson.

Dandy (page 72) One of those squeaky-clean adjectives meaning “mighty fine” that the Hollisters are so fond of! See also keen and swell.

►Dinette (page 105, Volume 2, River Trip) The dinette of the Sweetie Pie, Uncle Russ’s boat, was an eating area that was magically converted to a big double bed.

Drum majorette (page 70) This is a person who leads a marching band, usually carrying a baton. Just like a drum major, except a drum majorette is a girl.

Dungarees (page 82) In 1953, girls wore dresses or skirts most of the time, but a nice little girl would not clamber onto a merry-go-round wearing a dress. For special occasions, like a picnic in the State Park, she might be allowed to wear dungarees – heavy blue fabric fashioned into pants or overalls. You probably own a pair of blue jeans; pretty much the same thing.

►Expressman (page 34, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) In the Happy Hollisters’ day, packages were usually delivered by an employee of the company or firm where they originated, not by a 3rd party delivery service. For example, Tinker might personally deliver an order from the Trading Post directly to a customer. Expressmen were more like UPS or FedEx drivers, delivering packages from a variety of establishments.

►First-rate (page 65, Volume 2, River Trip) “First-rate detecting” implied that the Happy Hollisters were doing a good job tracking down Old Moe. The original meaning of first-rate, however, doesn’t necessarily mean good. It referred to the number of men or cannons on a naval ship; the more men or cannons, the higher the rating, so first-rate is better than second-rate.

Flapjacks (page 32) You might call them pancakes, griddlecakes, or hotcakes. Many of the Hollisters/Svensons actually prefer waffles.

Flashbulb camera (page 110) Not so very long ago, before digital cameras with automatic flashes, there were instant film cameras, also known as Polaroids, and they were the cat’s pajamas. (See dandy, keen and swell.) Since Mr. Hollister was an inventor, he probably enjoyed having all the latest high-tech gadgets. These fancy cameras had special photo paper inside that developed right inside the actual camera, without darkroom processing, negatives, printing and all that. The flashbulb was single-use and looked just like a very small light bulb.

Frankfurters (page 91) A frankfurter is a sausage made of beef or pork, originally made in the city of Frankfurt, Germany. You could say it’s the same thing as a hotdog, but Mrs. Hollister did not simply pick up a package of hotdogs at the grocery store. She would have made a special trip to the butcher. There she would have purchased a “string” of linked frankfurters which she would separate with a knife or scissors. You really don’t want to know what that “string” is made of. Trust me.

Gay (page 34) It means happy.

Giant Steps (page 93) This is a game similar to “Simon Says” or “Mother May I?” One child stands at the finish line and acts as “it.” The remaining children line up at the starting line and advance toward the finish line by asking permission to move a certain number of steps. The child acting as “it” may allow or deny the movement, and if movement is made without permission the offending child moves back to the starting line. This may explain why the Hollister children were so well-behaved, since games of this type may have been created originally to reinforce proper manners.

Golly (page 77, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) A simple little interjection? Not really – it’s a euphemism for “God” dating back to the late 1700s. It was very popular in the 50s and 60s – remember Gomer Pyle?

►Hokus pokus (page 106, Volume 2, River Trip) Often spelled hocus-pocus, and used in magic tricks to announce a baffling trick, such as pulling a rabbit out of a hat. According to Wikipedia, the origins of this phrase are unclear. It may be based on the liturgical Latin phrase hoc est corpus meum meaning “this is my body.” It could be related to the name of a sorcerer in Norse folklore, Ochus Bochus, or simply a magician’s invented phrase, concocted to sound like flowery, mysterious Latin. In any case, anything hokus pokus sounds like a bit of a hoax.

►Hurrah (page 71, Volume 2, River Trip) Three cheers for hurrah, hurray, hoorah, hooray, huzzah, and rah rah! Zowie, there are a lot of different ways to show excitement!

Jeepers (page 99) Another exclamation of shock or surprise, and probably one of those handy minced oath euphemisms (see crickets). “Jeepers Creepers, Where’d You Get Those Peepers?” Thanks Harry Warren, Johnny Mercer, and Louis Armstrong!

Jiffy, in a (page 82) Really fast.

Keen (page 107) Another good old-fashioned adjective in the dandy and swell group, another way to say something is really great or interesting.

Knolls (page 90) People just don’t use poetic words anymore; this one means small hills, but it sounds much prettier.

Lapland, Lapp children (page 95) Lapland is a region of northern Europe including parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula. The Lapps are the nomadic reindeer herders of the area, who now prefer to be called the Sami people. Andrew Svenson loved to travel, especially to exotic locations like Lapland, and often worked his destinations into stories to make them more educational.

Laundress (page 46) Donna Martin’s family had a laundress, a woman hired to wash and iron the family clothing and linens. Elaine Hollister was a stay-at-home mom extraordinaire who managed her time well enough to do her own cooking, cleaning, and laundering, with time left over for occasional mystery solving.

►Luncheonette (page 53, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) On their way to Sea Gull Beach, the Hollisters stopped for hamburgers and milk at a luncheonette. Even though this roadside lunch spot was right next to a pony corral, it had a sparkling clean counter.

►Mackinaw (page 91, Volume 2, River Trip) After a chilly water rescue, Pete dons a mackinaw belonging to Bill Barlow. This is a short coat made of water-repellent wool fabric called Mackinaw cloth that originated in the Mackinac or Mackinaw region of Michigan. Mackinaws are often red-and-black plaid, but of course in the new paperback version, it’s just plain old black and white.

Midget auto racers (page 85) These are gas-powered carts operated on a track, usually seen in amusement parks. Andrew Svenson loved auto racing, and developed the plots and outlines for The Wynn and Lonny Racing Series by Eric Speed. His sons Andy, Jr., and Eric Svenson (Pete and Ricky) are remembered fondly by their families for their love of cars, especially fast ones. Even today the Svenson boys (and some of the girls) are into fast cars, motorcycles and racing. Andrew Svenson would be thrilled to know that two of his grandsons are currently active in the auto racing business.

Monkey’s uncle, I’ll be a (page 111) This is an idiom used to express surprise that something unexpected has occurred or turned out to be true. The State of Tennessee v. Scopes (the Scopes Monkey Trial, 1925) was still fairly fresh in people’s minds in the 1950s, so this phrase was much more common then than now.

Nifty (page 99, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Once upon a time “nifty” meant stylish or clever, but in the Happy Hollisters it could probably be substituted for “swell.” It may have started out as a shortened form of “magnificent.” It’s still a pretty nifty little word.

Peddler (page 134) A door-to-door salesman. Back in the 1950s there were a lot of people who went around neighborhoods selling things: books, vacuum cleaners, brushes, even food. Today’s young readers may be surprised at the ease with which Holly talks to a stranger at their doorstep, and how Mrs. Hollister buys strawberries from him without any hesitation. People were much more trusting back then!

Pell mell (page 92) Pam runs pell mell, trying to catch the dog that has run off with her string of frankfurters. That is to say, she runs frantically after him. Such action is generally ill-advised, but it’s better than the dog running pell mell after her. That doesn’t happen until the next page.

Phonograph, record, needle (page 117) A phonograph is an electrical device that produces sound by means of a needle being rotated against a flat vinyl disk. This disk or “record” is 10-12” in diameter, embossed with grooves in which the needle tracks from the outside to the center, producing the recorded sound. This may be hard to imagine if the only music you have ever heard has come from an iPod.

►Picnic hamper (page 82, Volume 2, River Trip) When you’ve got seven mouths to feed on a picnic, you need a really big basket for all that food – pack up the picnic hamper!

Poke bonnet (page 113) If you’ve watched Little House on the Prairie or visited Colonial Williamsburg, you’ve seen ladies wearing one of these – a hat with a protruding brim in front, designed to shade a lady’s face from the sun or perhaps from the unwanted gaze of a man. It was also large enough in the back so that all the hair could be “poked” inside, and usually had a cloth strip or ribbon to tie underneath the chin – which would be helpful if you expect a cat to walk in a parade wearing a hat.

►Postmark (page 9, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Way back in the old days before email and Twitter and Instagram, people used to correspond with one another by writing letters. With ink pens. On paper. Then they bought a stamp from the post office, wrote the address on an envelope, put the stamp on the envelope, and took the letter to the post office. The post office put a “postmark” on the letter showing when it was mailed. And some people think life was simpler back then!

►Prankster (page 62, Volume 2, River Trip) In The Happy Hollisters, prankster is pretty much synonymous for Joey Brill or Will Wilson – someone who is always playing tricks on people!

Prowl car (page 176) This is just another name for a police or squad car, but calling it a prowl car makes it sound so much more furtive and mysterious!

Queer (page 89) Something that is queer is very odd or unusual, and may come from the German word quer, which means slanting or oblique. At last, a chance to use my German degree!

►Roaring rockets (page 152, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Pete uses this expression to show his excitement at finding an amazing clue. We haven’t found any other literary uses of this term, but can’t help but wonder if its origin might be in the Tom Swift, Jr., series. This was another book series which was developed by the Stratemeyer Syndicate during the years when Andrew Svenson was active as a writer and partner in the Syndicate.

Roly-poly (page 33, Volume 2, River Trip) Sue Hollister’s little friend Stevie is roly-poly, which sounds a little pudgy, but “roly-poly” is much more fun to say!

Shinny (page 84) This word is often confused with “shimmy.” Ricky climbed the merry-go-round pole by shinnying, which means he gripped the pole with his hands and legs and pulled himself up. If Ricky was “shimmying” he would have been doing a 1920s dance move characterized by rapid shaking. And his merry-go-round ride really would have been quite a sight to see!

Station wagon (page 12) and tailboard (page 18) If you look closely at the illustrations, it appears that the Hollister family drove a wood-paneled station wagon, sometimes called a “woodie.” In 1953 that was a mighty keen car, one that every large suburban family would have coveted. The station wagon was the forerunner of the SUV: a car with a third seat or a large storage area in the back. The rear door, also called the tailboard or tailgate, folded down – why do you think it’s called a “tailgate” party at a sporting event?

►Super-market (page 115, Volume 2, River Trip) Mrs. Hollister probably did most of her shopping at small family-owned markets or individual shops, like the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker. So when Pam suggested a family trip to the big super-market to stock up on provisions, it was a more unusual event and fun for the whole family – who doesn’t like grocery shopping with five kids in tow?

Swell (page 80) If one adjective is most often associated with the Hollisters, it would be “swell,” a most excellent, wonderful, and wholesomely awesome word.

►Telegram (page 145, Volume 3, Sea Gull Beach) Long before long-distance calling became affordable, telegrams were a popular means of communicating written messages over long distances. In fact, tele means distance, and graph means writing. Telegraph operators sent and received messages using Morse code (how fitting for a family who loved using codes) and the messages were printed out and delivered to the recipient. They were especially popular for short business messages, as shown in this 1930 telegram sent by Andrew Svenson to his father-in-law, Frank Stewart.

Texas Ranger (page 83) When Mr. Hollister “flung himself up onto his steed as if he were a Texas Ranger,” you may have pictured a baseball player jumping on a horse and didn’t think that made much sense. And it doesn’t really: the baseball team didn’t even exist until 1972 (although I’m sure there are some baseball players that are also fine horsemen). The reference makes a lot more sense if you know about the Texas Rangers, the oldest group of law enforcement officers in the United States. Picture mounted police with cowboy hats and spurs. There were Rangers even before Texas became Texas, and if you picture Mr. Hollister as one of those, you could probably imagine a very distinguished horseman, even on a carousel horse. http://www.texasrangers.org/The%20Rangers.asp

Tourist camp (page 13) Travelers these days are familiar with hotels and motels: a hotel usually has a lobby and interior rooms; at a motel you drive right up and park in front of your room’s door. A tourist camp is much more quaint version of a motel, usually in the middle of nowhere, and each guest/family has their own little house or cottage.

Tutti-frutti (page 65) At a good old-fashioned ice cream parlor, this would be ice cream flavored with chopped nuts and candied fruits – fruitcake without the cake. And it makes a perfect name for a cat with mixed colors – but if Tutti-frutti was a calico, why didn’t they just name it Callie, a beautiful name (see calliope) which incidentally was also Frank Hardy’s girlfriend’s name.

►Type-setting machine (page 56, Volume 2, River Trip) When the Hollister children visit the Shoreham newspaper office in their hunt for “Old Moe,” they have the opportunity to see a newspaper being printed on a type-setting machine. Nowadays, with newspapers produced digitally, it’s hard to imagine the laborious process that was undertaken back then, each and every day, to produce a newspaper. We were fascinated with this YouTube video that shows the complete process as it would have been in the Hollisters’ day. The headline story is similar to The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip – and if you listen carefully, you’ll hear another “Hollisterism” in the dialogue! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSr3bb-B7Jk

Wild goose chase (page 78, Volume 2, River Trip) The Happy Hollisters go on a lot of wild goose chases throughout the series – pursuing clues that lead nowhere or simply don’t pan out. The historical origin of this phrase is very interesting: “Englishmen in the late 16th century invented a new kind of horse race called the wild-goose chase in which the lead horse could go off in any direction and the succeeding horses had to follow accurately the course of the leader at precise intervals, like wild geese following the leader in formation. At first the phrase ‘wild-goose chase’ figuratively meant an erratic course taken by one person and followed by another; Shakespeare used it in this sense. But later the common term’s origins were forgotten and a ‘wild-goose chase’ came to mean ‘a pursuit of anything as unlikely to be caught as a wild goose,’ any foolish, fruitless, or hopeless quest.” From the “Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins” by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

Yikes (page 91) An all-purpose exclamation of surprise or excitement, and a favorite expression of all the Hollisters.

Zowie (page 113) Those Hollisters sure were an excitable bunch! This is another exclamation similar to “wow!” used to show surprise or delight.

Please join us in wishing a very happy birthday today to Helen S. Hamilton, who illustrated all 33 volumes of The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West (aka Andrew Svenson).

When we were preparing to reissue The Happy Hollisters in paperback, we searched through Andrew Svenson’s copious files to find contact information for illustrator Helen S. Hamilton. We found an address on some old letters, but it led to a dead-end, and even with the search capabilities of the internet, we were unable to track her down. Shortly after the first book was reissued in 2010, we received an email from Helen’s daughter, Faith. A friend of Helen’s had seen an article in the newspaper about the books and passed it on to her. Since Andrew Svenson had been a newspaperman before he was an author, we can’t help but think he would have been tickled that we got in touch the old-fashioned way, through a newspaper article! We were delighted to get to know Helen and her family through our online correspondence, and she, in turn, was happy to hear that the books are enjoying a revival.

The written descriptions of Pete, Pam, Ricky, Holly, and Sue sparked the imagination of many young readers, but Helen’s drawings really brought them to life. We’ve heard from many fans who fell in love with the Happy Hollisters through her illustrations, and put together a list of some of the questions we’ve been asked over the years. Faith recently visited her mother and the two of them collaborated to answer our questions.

How did you meet Andrew Svenson and become the illustrator for The Happy Hollisters?

Helen had gone to a different publisher to show her portfolio (she can’t remember which publisher). They had said that they thought maybe Doubleday would have a good job for her. She went to Doubleday and they asked her to do some samples for them. Then they hired her.

There are over 1,100 illustrations in the series – that’s a lot of drawings! How long did it typically take to do one drawing? Were there usually revisions?

At first, she presented sketches first for every illustration. The publisher made suggestions, and then she did the final pen and ink drawings. Eventually she would just do the final drawings without presenting sketches first. She had to turn out the drawings quite fast. In the first few years, she completed about three books a year, and only had about one month from start to finish for each book. Her husband, Bill Hamilton, helped with some of the drawings, especially when she needed to draw cars or bicycles. In 1952-1953, Helen was pregnant with her first child (me!) while she was working on the illustrations for the first book in the series.

The characters in your illustrations resemble the Svenson children quite well. Was that intentional? Did you meet the family, or work from photographs? Are there elements of your own children in the illustrations?

Helen did not meet the Svenson children until later, so the drawings were not modeled after them. They were modeled on neighborhood children, or children of friends. (As an aside, I always thought that the Hollister children were modeled after our family. Holly had braids and was a tomboy, like my sister Kate, and Ricky looked a lot like my brother Andy. However, these characters were developed and drawn before we were born.)

What medium was used for the final artwork?

The drawings for the text of the books were done with pen and ink, and for the 2-color illustrations, she did an overlay for the second color. All of the cover illustrations were done in watercolor.

Did you illustrate the covers as well as the interior artwork?

Yes, Helen illustrated all of the original covers for the series, and all of the interior artwork.

Did you travel to any of the destinations featured in the books?

Helen always wished that the publisher would send her to the places that were featured in the books, but that didn’t happen. As a family, we did travel to some of the places, like Santa Fe, New Mexico. On our trip to the west, we met people who knew of the Happy Hollisters, and were excited to meet the illustrator for the series.

Did you have a favorite Happy Hollisters book? One that was more fun to illustrate than the others?

In general, she liked the illustrations better in the later books, because she feels that she got better with more experience. The Haunted House Mystery was one of her favorites. (We had a treehouse in the woods behind our house that looked a lot like the treehouse on the cover of that book.)

Did you illustrate other books?

Yes, Helen did a lot of other illustrations. She illustrated some of the stories in the Best in Children’s Books anthologies, and also in Jack and Jill magazine. Both Helen and Bill did a lot of illustrations for textbooks and magazines.

*****

Below is a photograph of Helen S. Hamilton from September 2013, and a photograph of her “wall of weavings” showing her art form these days: textile pieces woven on a small frame loom. Beautiful!

With our gratitude for bringing the Happy Hollisters to life for millions of children, we wish you a very, very happy birthday, Mrs. Hamilton!

Today is the 44th anniversary of the original copyright date of The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Midnight Trolls by Jerry West (aka Andrew Svenson). This book was #33, the final volume before the series was discontinued. It also had the smallest print run of all the books in the series and only 6,510 copies were sold. (By comparison, more than 200,000 copies of the first volume were sold through retail outlets, i.e., not including book club sales.) Accordingly, fewer people have read this book than others in the series, and the hardcover books have become increasingly difficult to find. Collectors have noted prices of $150 and more for a single copy! If you’re curious about the story, here’s a sneak peak at Chapter One: The Lost Letter.

“HERE comes Daddy’s sailplane,” shouted Ricky Hollister as he ran across the lawn.
“Where?” his six-year-old sister Holly asked, looking up into the blue summer sky.
“Not there, silly,” said red-headed Ricky, who was seven. “It’s coming down the road!”
“Oh,” said Holly and raced after him, her pigtails flying.
The Hollister house stood between Pine Lake and Shoreham Road. Ricky and Holly reached the curb to see a pickup truck pulling a boat trailer.
On it was a long airplane fuselage, and inside the truck were the two wings. Several neighborhood children skipped behind as the load turned into the driveway.
“I’m going to fly in it when the wings are on,” Holly said.
“Oh boy, it’s really neat!” called out twelve-year-old Dave Mead. He added, “Hey, where are the rest of the kids?”
There were three more Hollister children. Pete, the oldest, was twelve, and Pam, ten, was next in line. They had gone on a bicycle errand for their mother. Little Sue was the youngest. The four-year-old had been inside playing with her dolls but at that moment she flung open the front screen door to scamper out as fast as her chubby legs would carry her.
As she reached the truck, down stepped Mr. Hollister, tall, broad-shouldered and grinning like a boy. He was followed by Indy Roades, who helped him in the Trading Post. This was a hardware, toy and sports shop in downtown Shoreham.
The children’s father was a flying enthusiast and had built a sailplane himself in the huge garage behind his store. Now he was going to assemble it on his property.
Sue leaped up into his arms. Following her was Mrs. Hollister, a pert and pretty woman.
“Oh, John!” she said. “I didn’t know you plane was so big!”
Just then bicycle tires squealed, and Pete and Pam zoomed into the driveway. Pete was a sturdy boy with blond hair and clear blue eyes. Pam had fluffy golden hair, which blew about in the breeze as she skidded to a halt and stepped off her bicycle.
Smiling, they joined the excited youngsters watching the men pull the fuselage onto the lawn beside the garage. Then Pete and his friend Dave helped to carry the wings and lay them down on either side of the fuselage.
“Is your father really going to fly that glider without an engine?” seven-year-old Donna Martin asked.
“Sure,” Ricky said. “He’s a good flyer!”
Just then a boy a little larger than Pete strode by, his hands thrust deep in his pockets. Joey Brill was Pete’s age and a classmate. But instead of a smile, he wore a frown. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
“Daddy’s sailplane is ready,” Pam said.
“You mean glider.”
“No. The real name is sailplane,” Pam replied. “But lots of people call them gliders.”
“He made it himself,” Pete stated proudly.
“Our father is an inventor too,” Ricky bragged, watching the men attach the wings.
Joey sniffed and walked around the plane, looking at it from every angle. “I’d say this thing can’t fly at all,” he proclaimed.
“Of course it will,” said Pete. “And I’m going up with Dad too!”
“You think your father’s great, don’t you?” taunted Joey.
“Of course.”
“My father can do more things than yours.”
“So what?” said Pete and walked away.
Before Joey could think of any more mean things to say, the mailman came along the sidewalk, waving a fistful of letters toward the Hollisters.
Pam raced over to get them. “Hello, Mr. Barnes. They’re all for us?”
“Every one of ’em, young lady.”
Pam thanked him and read the envelopes as she walked toward her mother. A big brown one, postmarked Froston, Canada, was addressed to the Happy Hollister Children.
“Something from Gram!” Pam cried out joyfully.
With the other children looking on, she pulled out a piece of heavy paper. On it were small dots arranged in an odd pattern.
“Yikes!” Ricky exclaimed. “Grandma has sent us a funny message.”
“A bumpy code,” Holly giggled, pulling on one of her pigtails.
Mrs. Hollister told her children that this was Braille, the kind of writing used by blind people.
“Oh,” Pam cried out. “Is Grandma—”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with Grandma,” her mother assured her and explained that Gram had been working for some time preparing Braille books for the blind in Canada. She and Gramp Hollister lived there in retirement.
“She has a special machine that types Braille,” Mrs. Hollister said.
“Can I see it?” Ricky asked and took the sheet to show it around to his friends.
“It’s my grandmother’s secret code,” he said importantly.
Joey Brill edged up, and before anyone could stop him, he grabbed the Braille letter.
“Let me figure out the code,” he said. “I’ll bet it’s easy.”
“Hey! Give it back!” Ricky shouted, but the bully scooted off, turning only briefly to stick out his tongue.
Ricky raced after him. Then Pete, Pam and Dave hurried to the street, but by the time they looked up and down, Joey was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’d he go, Ricky?” Pam called out to her brother, who stood dejectedly two blocks away.
“I don’t know. He disappeared between those houses.”
“Joey’s just terrible,” Dave said angrily.
“Don’t worry,” Pam replied. “His mother will make him give the letter back.”
“I’ll go over to his house right away,” Pete volunteered. “Want to come, Pam?”
“Okay.”
The Brills lived nearby and the Hollisters reached their home in a few minutes. Joey was on the front porch, rocking back and forth in a chair.
“What do you want?” he asked rudely.
“To see your mother!” Pam declared.
“She’s not home.”
Hearing the voices, Mrs. Brill appeared at the door, her hands white with flour. “Oh dear, are you children fighting again? What is it now?”
“Joey took a letter our grandmother sent to us,” Pete said, “and we want it back.”
“Aw, I didn’t take any letter!” Joey said.
“It wasn’t exactly a written letter,” Pam explained. “It was in Braille.”
“For blind people?”
“Yes.”
“Why, there’s nobody blind in your house,” Mrs. Brill said loftily. “So how could my Joey have taken your letter?”
“But it was written by our grandmother,” Pam went on stoutly. “She helps blind people.”
Mrs. Brill wiped her hands on her apron and looked at Joey. “Give back the letter!” she ordered.
“I don’t have it.”
Tears came to Pam’s eyes. “Mrs. Brill,” she said, “he’s lying. We saw him take it.”
The woman eyed her son sternly. “Give back the letter, I said!” As she moved toward him, Joey cringed.
“I—I don’t have it now!”
“Then where is it?”
Joey said he had tucked it into his shirt, but as he ran home it fell out and was lost.
Disappointed, the children turned and left, wondering whether there was an important secret in the lost letter. What had their grandmother written? Did it require an urgent reply?
When they reached home, they were surprised to see a newspaper photographer taking pictures of the sailplane. Their father was talking to a reporter.
“I plan to take part in several soaring meets,” he said and explained that he would give his two-seater a tryout soon.
At supper the Hollisters talked over the day’s events. The sailplane was good news, but Gram’s letter was not. They must write and tell her of the loss. After they had finished eating dessert Mr. Hollister said, “Come on, boys. We’ll have to tie down the plane for the night.”
Ricky wrinkled his nose and scratched his head. “So it won’t fly away?”
“If there happens to be a strong wind it would lift up like a kite,” his father said. He explained that they would have to tie ropes around the wings and attach them to pegs, driven into the ground.
After this had been done, Pam called Zip, their collie dog. He came bounding up and licked her hand. “Down, boy,” she said and attached a long leash to his collar. She tied the other end to a tree.
“Zip can stand on guard just in case,” Pam said.
As dusk settled down over the shore of Pine Lake, Ricky, Holly and Sue chased fireflies around the house and put them in a glass jar.
Finally Mrs. Hollister called her children inside. “Time for bed,” she said.
Ricky punched holes in the tin lid and screwed it at the top of the jar.
“May I take these into my bedroom?” he asked.
“All right,” his mother replied, “but let those poor little things free in the morning.”
Just before Pete went upstairs Zip started barking wildly. The boy dashed out onto the lawn.
“Quiet! Quiet, Zip!” he commanded.
The collie stopped barking. Instead he whined and growled.
Pete looked around. He could see nobody. All of a sudden he heard a rustle. Then, as his eyes became used to the darkness, he spied a small, bent-over man hastening out of the driveway!
“What do you want? Wait!” Pete shouted and set off after the intruder. By the time the boy reached the sidewalk, however, the stranger had vanished.
From the porch, Mr. Hollister called to his son. “Who is it?”
“Don’t know, Dad. I’m looking around.” Pete peered into the dark bushes bordering the walk and listened.
Then something touched his leg slightly, and he cried out in fright!

Illustration from The Happy Hollisters and the Trading Post Mystery by Jerry West

Santa has already started compiling his lists — have you? Joey Brill, the Happy Hollisters’ nemesis and the resident bully in Shoreham, rarely makes the Nice List, but he claims this year will be different. Since Joey now works in the shipping department at our Trading Post Store, we’d like to keep him busy so he doesn’t break things or get into other mischief. You can help keep Joey out of trouble — and make the young readers on your shopping list happy at the same time — by placing an order at The Happy Hollisters’ Trading Post Store!
We have suggestions in a wide variety of price ranges — see our handy gift guide below. And remember, shipping is always free within the U.S. As an added bonus, we can add a personalized note from “Jerry West” in any books you order, and all orders are shipped with a supply of our new 60th Anniversary celebration bookmarks! All of the items below may be ordered through the Trading Post Store.

Regularly $139.45, now just $99.95 with free shipping and free personalization

Three-Book Starter Kit contains the first three books in the series: The Happy Hollisters, The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip, and The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach. This is a keen way to turn a beginning reader into a lifelong reader! 558 pages with over 200 illustrations

Regularly $29.85, now just $24.95 with free shipping and free personalization

Happy Hollisters Retro T-Shirts show the world you’re a friend of The Happy Hollisters! Our limited edition t-shirts are 100% cotton, pre-shrunk, and available in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes. Imprinted front and back.

The Happy Hollisters ♦ The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip ♦ The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Indian Treasure ♦ The Happy Hollisters at Mystery Mountain ♦The Happy Hollisters at Snowflake Camp ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Trading Post Mystery ♦ The Happy Hollisters at Circus Island ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Secret Fort ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Merry-Go-Round Mystery ♦ The Happy Hollisters at Pony Hill Farm ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship ♦ The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery

Thank you, one and all, for your support this year!

The Svenson Family (also known as The Happy Hollisters) — Christmas 1951

“You guessed it,” replied their father. “This is our street, Shoreham Road. Our number is 124.” “And there’s our house,” shouted Pam. “I know it from the picture the real-estate man sent.” Nestled far back from the road was the Hollisters’ new home. It was a large, three-story house. Big lawns stretched away on either side. The lake touched the property in the rear.

This is the description of the home of The Happy Hollisters from the very first volume of the series. Many readers have speculated about Shoreham’s “real” location, and dreamed of visiting the town and touring the home where the Happy Hollisters lived. Was it on the north side of Long Island? Or in Vermont, along the shore of Lake Champlain? Or somewhere else??

In truth, the fictional house at “124 Shoreham Road” was probably a mash-up of two very real places in the life of author Jerry West (a pseudonym for Andrew Svenson). The Svenson family home on Church Street in Bloomfield, NJ, was an idyllic place to grow up: an imposing, three-story house, perfect for inspiring ghost stories and mysteries. The sweeping lawn provided additional space for the children’s adventures, especially when Andrew needed quiet time inside for writing!

The Svenson Family HomeBloomfield, NJ1948-1973

“Pine Lake” is as fictional as Shoreham, but was probably inspired by summers the Svenson family spent at Lake Lackawanna, in Sussex County, NJ. Andrew Svenson’s parents owned a home there, which sat on the north side of the lake. Eventually Andrew and his wife Marian purchased their own home on the opposite shore, providing an additional backdrop for many happy memories and adventures (as well as a few mishaps!) which found their way into The Happy Hollisters’ stories.

Gram’s HouseLake Lackawanna

In 1953, the year the first Happy Hollisters volume was published, Andrew’s daughter Laura (the inspiration for Pam Hollister) wrote an essay about visiting her grandparents’ home at Lake Lackawanna. It offers a charming peek into her past, complete with the sounds and smells of childhood adventures. If you could put their Bloomfield house on the shores of Lake Lackawanna, and see it through Laura’s memories, you’d probably have a pretty good picture of the Happy Hollisters’ home. You may never able to tour the actual house, but this essay, along with the photos above, give a good idea of how the house at 124 Shoreham Road came to life!

Gram’s House

Ever since I can remember, a trip to “the Lake” to visit my grandmother had been an occasion joyfully anticipated by my brothers and sisters and me. These infrequent forty-mile journeys generally occurred during the summer, and when my father would suddenly announce that we were going to the Lake, everyone hurried to make ready. Bathing suits had to be gathered together, food had to be packed. Gram could never feed eight people in a surprise attack. Clothes had to be changed from dresses and trousers to dungarees. At last we would be off, packed into the car along with boxes of the aforementioned essentials. Even the baby knew something was happening.

“Lake?” she would beam. “We go Lake?”

From then on it was a matter of time until we spotted landmarks which told us our destination was near: under the cement bridge, past the house with the fountain on the lawn, around the traffic circle, then, after a bend in the road, a large white house.

“The Crash-up House!” six voices would shout at once. This place, so named because we once saw an automobile accident there, marked the turn into a narrow dirt road leading to the Lake.

The summer heat softened the tar-topped road and loosened pebbles imbedded in the surface. Whenever the car swerved onto the shoulder, little stones pinged against the fender as they spun off the tires. It was always quiet along that road, the gentle, warm, fresh-smelling quiet of a summer day in the country. On either side stretched woods of slender trees and straggling brush that invited adventurous children to come and play. Beyond the woods rose the low mountains of the Kittatinny range, a patchwork of greens with an occasional boulder standing out.

At last the final bend in the road and we would all strain to catch the first glimpse of the Lake. There! There it was! First, a small cove bordered by tall, waving rushes and cattails. A red-winged blackbird used to have her nest in them. On the opposite side of the inlet, a huge rock sloped into the water, an excellent place for sunning turtles and children. Many times I have lain there, soaking up the afternoon sun with no one near but a hard-shelled reptile, watching through sun-squinted eyes the undulating vegetation and darting water bugs. This inlet was the best place for fishing; the largest and wiliest bass lurked over by the shore where the arched birch trees tried to bend and touch the water.

The cove widened into the main Lake, lying deeply sapphire and sparkling under the high, high summer sky. A breeze excited the little waves, which lapped at the docks and the weather-beaten rowboats beside them. Along the shore were small, trim cottages, while here and there a larger, more elaborate house appeared. At the end of the Lake, jutting out over the water, was Jack’s Pavilion. The log edifice, with its red roof and screened porches was set off by a parking area of blindingly white pebbles which crunched under the wheels of cars. Jack, the friendly, white-haired proprietor, knew what I always wanted: a strawberry ice cream cone dipped in bits of chocolate. Then while my father did his purchasing, I would wander about the room, fascinated by the rows and rows of magazines and comic books, the penny candy case, the fishing trophies and the occasional glimpses of the back room, the bar. From that room issued raucous laughter, juke box tunes, the stale smell of beer, and the staccato sound of pin-ball machines. I was duly impressed by it all.

The best thing about the Lake, of course, was Gram’s house. The brown-shingled bungalow, tinged with silver from long standing, was set on an emerald lawn and bordered with rose, phlox and cosmos. From under the low red roof peeked two small windows, from which one could see the moonlit Lake at night if one were fortunate enough to sleep on the old cot in the attic. Stretched across the front of the house was a screened porch, where we ate, slept and spent most of our time inside. It was cool and sheltered there, and while we viewed the entire Lake from it, no passerby could see us through the weathered screens.

Inside, the small house gave off a faint, but distinct “Lake smell,” a mixture of damp wood, long dead fires in the fireplace, past autumns and new springs. The peculiar odor permeated everything – the pillows on the sofa, the furniture, the beds, the curtains, the air – and I loved it. In the rear of the cottage was a narrow kitchen with an old black coal cookstove dominating one wall. Nothing tasted better than hot, juicy meats, light brown sour-apple pies or baked beans cooked all day on a coal stove!

The back porch opened onto a tiny porch which house a large, green, wooden icebox. Inside the deep chest was always something good to eat – quarts of cool milk, big pats of pale, moist butter and strawberry jam to spread on homemade bread, ripe succulent tomatoes, or, if Gram were expecting us, several containers of ice cream. The lid was heavy, but two of us usually managed to hold it open for inspection. A few feet from the porch the mountain began its steep incline. I remember gazing up at the mass of tall trees, gigantic boulders, remnants of a glacial period, and vague, black shadows which towered mysteriously over the inhabitants of the valley.

Around the side of the house was a clearing where the old rusty swing creaked comfortably. We spent hours on that swing, pretending it was a ship at sea, and rocking and rolling until we had reached a far-off destination or tired our feet with pushing. Roses climbed the ten-foot rock behind the swing. We often followed the flowers’ clambering example, though why no one ever fell down from that high perch, I do not know. Next to the house was a green pump which, after much priming, gave forth the sweetest, clearest, coldest water I have ever tasted. Before dinner the sound of the pump handle could be heard drawing a pitcher of the liquid. Squee-e-k, thump! Squee-e-k, thump! Beside the pump rose the fieldstone chimney for the large fireplace inside. Sparrows found room for their nests here and there among the leaves of ivy.

Gram’s house is at the Lake no longer, for my kindly, gray-haired grandmother has died and her house has been sold. I visited it once afterwards. The new owner has painted and modernized the house, has taken away the flowers and the old swing. But I will always remember the Lake and “Gram’s house” as they were when I was a child.

The last week of September is Banned Books Week, which always reminds us how The Happy Hollisters and other Stratemeyer Syndicate children’s mystery series (like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins) have been shunned over the years (if not completely banned) by many librarians and book reviewers. Can you imagine these squeaky clean stories being rejected by librarians?

The Wall Street Journal ran a story on January 15, 1975, explaining how the Stratemeyer Syndicate’s children’s series were surviving quite well despite the objections of librarians. Many librarians had felt that these series books did not meet their standards for literary quality, and they would not grant them space on their shelves.

Later, on January 24, 1975, Stratemeyer partner and author Andrew Svenson (aka Jerry West, Franklin W. Dixon, and Laura Lee Hope), was interviewed by Bob Hardy on KMOX in St. Louis and explained why he wasn’t terribly concerned about the issue. He and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams knew that their children’s books appealed to millions of youngsters who then grew up and shared the same books with their children and grandchildren, providing a built-in, nostalgic durability. Despite the librarians’ hesitance to stock the books, children and their parents continued to buy the books, and sales stayed very healthy indeed!

It is fascinating to hear the voice of Andrew Svenson (aka Jerry West) as he addresses this topic and more. He also answers several call-in questions and explains why the Stratemeyer Syndicate used pseudonyms; his method of on-the-spot research for educational value; and even some advice for wannabe writers! Listen to the recording below, and let us know what you think!

Here is a very keen look into the mind of Andrew E. Svenson, who as Jerry West created The Happy Hollisters for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. This handwritten outline is undated, but we estimate that it was written in the very late 1940s or early 1950s.

Early Book Outline by Andrew E. Svenson aka Jerry West

The proposed title at the bottom is “Hollisters New Home” but this outline evidently led to the creation of the first two volumes in the series. It combines elements from both The Happy Hollisters (volume 1) and The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip (volume 2): the Hollisters’ arrival at their new home, which appears to be haunted, and a big fishing contest at The Trading Post. There are also several details in the outline that didn’t make it into the final manuscript for either of the first two volumes, for example, the mention of a very loud whistle invented by Mr. Hollister.

It is also interesting to note that this outline shows 22 chapters. At some point it was decided that all volumes in The Happy Hollisters series should be of uniform length and later outlines, synopses, and completed manuscripts that we have found almost always include 18 chapters.

The handwriting is occasionally difficult to decipher, so we’ve provided a transcription below for additional detail.

1) Farewell to Crestwood. Trip in car with trailer, cat + dog in trailer. Tourist camp. Fun and humor. Run-in with boy named Joey Brill. Joey releases brake of car. It starts downhill with Holly inside. (physical) Holly
2) Pete jumps to rescue, goes after Joey Brill, but boy has left with parents. Stop for picnic at State Park – Ricky gets lost. Pam uses family whistle (tin – loud volume – invented by Mr. H.), finds boy. Arrive at Shoreham. No furniture! (worry) Ricky
3) Where to sleep. Getting dark. Holly + Pam look in house while Pete + Ricky run down to lakefront. Sue missing. Falls into water. Rescued by Zip. Pam sees shadowy figure in house. Is it real or is she imagining? (Pam)
4) Kind neighbor takes them in while Mr. H. tries to track furniture. It’s at Stony Point across the lake. Arrives next morning. Kids want to see the Trading Post. Tour of T.P. Boy enters store and pushes over a stack of cans, about to topple on kids. Physical (all)
5) Children warned by a man named Roy Tinker. Bad boy illegible. He looks familiar (Joey Brill). Watch unloading of furniture. Kids from neighborhood watch. Joey is a neighbor. Did he topple cans. Sue is lost! Sue
6) Big search. Sue is found locked in a dresser drawer. Next day children explore the house. That night they hear strange noise again. Is house haunted. Pam + Holly go out in boat. Oars lost. They drift off. Pam + Holly
7) A big wind takes them toward Blackberry Island. They are washed onto shore. Children find nobody there. They find remains of an old camp. Find a photo of their house. Word “treasure” is on it. Holly steps into quicksand as she picks up bright stones on shore. Physical
8) At home, Pete finds a drifting oar. Has the boat sunk. Mr. Hollister rushes a boat and outboard motor from the T.P. They scour the lake. Nearly hit a big rock. See Pam on shore. Rescue Holly. But motor boat is gone. Pete + Pam
9) There must be somebody on island. Walk around island. When they come back the boat is there! Rowboat is towed back to house. That night Pete hears a noise. Awakens Pam. Sounds like crying. They find a mother cat + litter of kittens in cellar. Was that the ghost. Cat hisses at children.
10) She must be a wild cat. Pam + Holly tame her. Cats claimed by Joey. Children find he had mistreated them. Cat scratches Joey who vows to get even. Pam + Joey walk to bridge. Joey trails them illegible. Pam and Ricky. Physical
11) Pam rescues brother. Pete vows to give him a black eye. Mr. H + Pete discuss plan to sell more fishing tackle. Decide to give prize for biggest fish. Tank in window. Joey brags he’d catch it. Father announces big surprise for children!
12) Picnic in State Park! They set out after church on Sunday. Drive past airport, stop of edge of turtle creek; outdoor weenie roast. Ricky catches a grandfather turtle. Sue gets a tiny one. As they are about to go home Holly + Sue are missing. Holly and Sue
13) They have wandered across bridge which is locked for night. Mr. H + Pete build a raft, shove it over. Children ride back. Testing searchlight at airport. When they arrive home they see another searchlight – trained on their house! Physical
14) Excitement. Neighbors have seen prowler, called police, searchlight. Children worry about cats. Was Joey the prowler. Find cats OK. Footprint around the fireplace in cellar. The ghost again. Pete finds a bright stone, same as on B.B. Island. Pete and Holly
15) Ghost is same one who took boat on B.B. Island? Mr. H arranges a gimmick to trap prowler. Sets up a camera. Next day it has been set off. Develops picture. All agree it is a photo of the cat. All the kids.
16) Set camera again. This time where cat can’t get at it. Fish begin to arrive at the T.P. Children have fun watching them in big tank. Sue puts finger in and gets nipped. Ricky adds a turtle. Joey cracks tank. Water starts to leak out. What to do! Physical – Pam + Ricky
17) Pam + Ricky hold hands on crack. In comes Tinker. Helps save fish, adds one of his own, a big whopper. Joey’s father pays for repairing tank. That night Holly thinks she hears ghost. False alarm? Next morning camera has been clicked. Picture shows a man’s back, stooped before fireplace. Looks familiar to Pam. Funny hat
18) Mr. H decides to investigate privately + not tell police now, another night noise. Pete is setting out catfish lines. Big fish in morning. Start a fire to cook fish. Joey comes over. Pushes little Sue dress catches fire. Pete starts to beat it out. Pete and Sue
19) Pete saves sister. Big hero. Pam + Pete decide to hunt for the prowler. Take outboard boat + go to B.B. island. Somebody is following them. Disappears around end of island. P + P find a wire fish box. Three whopping fish. Whose are they? Have little bands on tails. Find a funny hat. Like man in picture.
20) Man who owns fish is the ghost. Go back home. Find other children weeping. Cat + kittens are gone. The ghost or Joey. Follow footprints to Sunfish Cove. Cats are adrift in a big basket. Rescued. Joey denies it. Brags he’ll get biggest fish. Judging is the next day. Children on way home with cats, attacked by Joey’s dog.
21) Zip arrives + chases bad dog off. Next day everybody gathers at T.P. for judging of fish. Just as Mr. H is about to say that Tinker’s fish is winner, in comes Joey – biggest of all!
22) Fish has band on tail. Pete accuses Joey of following him to B.B. island + taking fish in pen. Denies it. What does band say. It says R. T. Roy Tinker? Yes. He admits he kept fish in pen. As he goes to get prize Pam cries out. His back is same as man’s in picture. Tinker admits he’s the ghost. Had lived in basement when place was vacant. Had secreted fishing bait in fireplace. Forgot where. Was trying to get it. Mr. H + Tinker patent bait for catching big fish. Tinker works for Mr. H promises to take children on big picnic on B.B. island.